The Musical Instrument Thread

Picked up a few more songs on the electric today. Learning 'Lunatic Fringe' from Red Rider, and 'Kensington Line' from Big Head Todd and the Monsters. Also perfecting 'Ball and Chain' from Social Distortion. I'll have a look at that 'Rocky Mountain Way' video posted earlier sometime this week.
 
I'm holding off on doing much playing until a friend of mine and I meet Thursday to jam. Hopefully we'll select a few songs to get learn, and I might play bass instead of guitar.
 
My friend and I met to play tonight. I played mostly bass and we picked two songs to learn well: Green Onions and Rock Me Baby. We're playing Rock Me Baby as an instrumental as neither of us really sings.

I sing okay, but not well enough for lead. My friend's a great guitar player; he's been playing since he was a kid. I'm just happy to be making noise.

Our third guy we had in the spring decided he didn't want to put in the time to learn his guitar so he dropped out.
 
I think my guitar playing partner is going to bail. He has about six jobs, one of which is farmer, plus three kids. He means well but he can't commit to playing once a week.

I'm running through a blues book I started about a year ago. It's easier this time around. I guess that's good!

So, what are you fellas up to? Jon, how's the strat? Hectic, how's the band and the new ESP?
 
I haven't touched any guitars in a couple of weeks since I've been studying for my certification. I'll pick it back up starting tomorrow, and I'll catch a few of Justin's lessons while I'm at it. I'd like to pick up on appregios and some of the more complicated blues scales.
 
The ESP is killer! The band has taken some time off. One of the guys just had another kid, so we're letting him take care of things at home for a bit. We hope to get things going again soon. Been working on a different project in the meantime. Some newer funkier stuff. I've been spending some time working with my recording software too.

I've also been building a repair stand. It looks a little like this one.
Guitar_Bench_Rest.jpg

I need to put the padding and vinyl on it still, but it it'll make changing strings and cleaning easier.
It would have been easier to buy one, but I felt like building something.
 
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I played for the first time for a non-Cub Scout audience on Friday. Some guys that play in a local bluegrass band, and on occasion at our Kiwanis club meetings, wanted to know if I could join them at a local adult day care center for their Thanksgiving lunch. We just played some traditional stuff, Amazing Grace, The Weight and Wagon Wheel and so on. The people there (maybe 75?), not all of whom were senile (and I don't mean that disparagingly), really enjoyed it. I just played rhythm guitar, keeping up with the cowboy chord changes. But it was my very first time playing in a group, before an adult crowd, standing up (!).

I've been wishing I could find some guys to form a band or at least play with, and I had in mind younger guys and rock music, but the universe works in mysterious ways. The other guys all said I had to play with him again in the future. That was pretty cool.
 
I think I'm just going to retake the beginners course on Justin's site from lesson one and do it all on the strat. I'll try that out Monday and over the holiday since I have a short work week this week. Somehow I've lost the ability to do fast chord changes on this thing.


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Jon said:
I think I'm just going to retake the beginners course on Justin's site from lesson one and do it all on the strat. I'll try that out Monday and over the holiday since I have a short work week this week. Somehow I've lost the ability to do fast chord changes on this thing.


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Different neck profile, different nut width than your Yamaha. It will take a little time.
 
HecticArt said:
Groupies for Casual!

Rock on!

Glad that you got to play for people and had fun.
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I got to sing, too! I sing all right. I sing better since I've been playing guitar. A lot more vibrato than I ever had before. I think it comes from just naturally adding vibrato to any noted you hold for a beat or more. I sing in the shower, too.
 
I didn't necessarily start from the beginning tonight, but I did pick some up on the major scale lessons to the point where I'm pretty good for a beginner. Also started to learn a little bit of "Cold Hard Bitch" from Jet (power chords, baby!). That should be a fun one.


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Dig! Very cool.

One day you'll be playing for people at 12:15 that are 2 hours away from going to bed and it will be dark out. That'll be rock and roll. \m/,
 
Learning 'Highway to Hell' from Justin's Rock songbook (and video lesson), already have the chorus down, but still working on the chord changes in the beginning and hook. It's pretty easy to play once you get that down.
 
We played a quick "Feliz Navidad" for some kids in need at our Kiwanis meeting last week.

There is an "old time" music group that meets every Wednesday in town that I'm going to attend after the new year. Also, there's a ukulele group that meets on Thursdays at a local pizza joint near me. I think I'm going to give that a whirl after the first of the year.

I've met some more musicians. One of the parents at karate went to college with me (graduate a year earlier; we didn't know each other) and plays drums. And a lawyer up the street that I've met while battling a new interstate natural gas pipeline at work is a guitar player.

I'd really like to get some guys (or gals) together to play classic rock. But until I can, if that ever happens, I figure I'll try the uke and old time groups. Not my favorite stuff, but it's a chance to play and maybe meet some people who want to play some rock music just for fun. "Blossom where you're planted," as they say, and these are the opportunities to play that I have.
 
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